Now cutting off hands, heads over Hindutva in Karnataka

Bangalore, April 6 (IANS) The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka and its main opponent Congress are involved a bitter war of words over Hindutva. Leaders from both sides made alleged inflammatory statements like cutting off the hands of the ideology’s advocates and chopping off the heads of those against it. The state police Monday registered a case against BJP legislator M. P. Renukacharya for his reported remark that the “heads of those speaking against Hindutva should be cut off.”

Renukacharya, who represents Davangere’s Honnali constituency in the state assembly, made the remark at a press conference in Davangere in central Karnataka Sunday, reacting to a former Congress minister Kagodu Thimmappa’s reported remarks that hands of those propagating Hindutva should be chopped off.

A court in Mangalore has ordered the police to submit a report on Thimmappa’s statements.

However, Thimappa, who hails from Shimoga, the home district of chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, has denied making any inflammatory statement.

He told reporters here Saturday that what he had said at a public meeting in Sagar town in Shimoga district was: “What if we ask to cut hands of those propagating Hindutva?” This had been misinterpreted by the media leading to the controversy, he claimed.

A police spokesperson said in Bangalore Monday that case has been filed against Renukacharya under two sections of the Indian Penal Code. The charges are promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony (Section 153 A of IPC) and making statements causing (contribute or lead) to public mischief (Section 505).

Reacting to Renukacharya’s statement, Yeddyurappa told reporters in Davangere Monday that he would appeal to his party members as well as other parties to exercise restraint in their speeches and comments.

The legislator himself Monday told reporters in his home constituency Honnali that he had not spoken against any community but was reacting to anti-Hindu statements of the Congress and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) leaders.